For the God-man goes from borrowed donkey to borrowed upper room to borrowed cross and borrowed tomb. For you.
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12:23).
Jesus’ words set the scene. While palm branches are waving and while hosannas are being sung, there is still no proper celebration of Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday without seeing how this week, Holy Week, ends.
The crucifix stands on my desk and above my office door. It’s the first thing I see when I arrive and the last thing I see when I leave. Your church likely has one; maybe your home too. The crucifix points me to the reality of today and every day as long as God gives life and breath. But the crucifix also points me to the end of Holy Week because we need to see how this thing ends.
This week is for you, you know. For the God-man goes from borrowed donkey to borrowed upper room to borrowed cross and borrowed tomb. For you. You wouldn’t go this way; you couldn’t go this way. But he goes. The Christ. This is his glory—your salvation.
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”
Some churches read the Passion history of our Lord on Palm Sunday. And as you hear it, and as you meet the participants as the story unfolds, can you see yourselves in them?
This history starts on Sunday when he rides into Jerusalem, as long foretold (Zechariah 9). The voices raise, and the palms wave, and the shouts go up: “Hosanna! Lord Save us!”
What a prayer! What a cry! And how many of those same voices shouted “crucify” later in the week?
How could they, you might ask? How could you?
And how could Judas betray him? And Peter disown him? How could you? We have all betrayed Christ and for far less than thirty pieces of silver. We have all denied Christ and in far less intimidating situations.
The trial is a farce. The witnesses tell one line after another. Herod, it seems, is more interested in the show than the truth. And Pilate, Annas, and Caiaphas too, all not worthy of their office of high trust. The spit, the mockery, the crown with thorns, and the cruel blows. It’s all too much.
Then, every year I hear it, it’s still hard to believe: the Lord of life--dead. We need to see how this thing ends.
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”
The glory hour for Jesus has come. To be the Christ. He goes all the way, too, and not just for those who shout ,“Hosanna”; and not just for those who shout, “Crucify”; but also for you.
The glory of this week is this: Jesus’ hour has come for you.
From the beginning, we see how this week ends. Our inability to climb our way to him has been answered. This is why he came. This is his glory. He becomes our sin.
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”
And so we follow on. Painful as it is, we follow on.
This Sunday, many will grab a palm branch. Some for waving, some for poking siblings. And hosannas will be sung. Loud hosannas. The Passion history is told. And through that story, he loves you.
Whomever you are, this week is for you. We see how this week ends. The hour has come for Jesus to be glorified. The hour has come for you. Hosanna in the highest!
A version of this article originally appeared as a devotion on letthebirdfly.com
